UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - First-year head coach Sarah Brown has released the Penn State women's gymnastics schedule for the 2018 season. The Nittany Lions will host five regular season meets at Rec Hall in addition to being an NCAA Regional site. All Penn State home meets are scheduled for Saturdays at 4 p.m.

"There are so many things that excite me about the 2018 schedule," Brown said. "I'm happy to be back in the Big Ten conference and am looking forward to some tough competitions both at home, and on the road. The quad meets, along with the double duals, will provide a great atmosphere that will be essential to our preparation for post-season. The more opportunities we have to compete in front of our home crowd, the better because we're hosting the 2018 NCAA Regional Championships at Rec Hall and we're looking to advance to the NCAA National Championships in St. Louis, Missouri."

The 2018 slate begins for the Blue & White with back-to-back home meets at Rec Hall. Penn State opens the year with a non-conference matchup against Eastern Michigan (Jan. 6) before beginning Big Ten action against Nebraska (Jan. 13).

Following the season-opening homestand at Rec Hall, Penn State heads to College Park, Md., to take on the Maryland Terrapins (Jan. 19) for its first road trip of the season.

Penn State returns home to Rec Hall for its first double dual of the season when the Penn State gymnastics programs host Illinois on Jan. 27. The Big Ten season continues for the Nittany Lions as they take to the road for two meets at Michigan State (Feb. 4) and Ohio State (Feb. 9).

The Nittany Lions head back to Rec Hall for a tri-meet against Cornell & Penn (Feb. 17) before hosting George Washington (Feb. 24) in another double dual meet, as the Penn State men host Army West Point.

The Blue & White closes out its regular season with three meets on the road. The road trip begins as Penn State takes on Pittsburgh & West Virginia at Pittsburgh on March 4. The Nittany Lions then return to action a few days later as they travel to Provo, Utah, for a quad meet against Texas Woman's University, Utah State and BYU on March 9.

The Nittany Lions then head Piscataway, N.J., for their section of the Big Five Qualifier on March 17. In the Rutgers section of the Big Five Qualifier, Penn State takes on Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Rutgers. The top three teams at each Big Five Qualifier will advance to the evening session of the Big Ten Championships. The Big Ten Championships are divided into a day session and an evening session and will be hosted by the University of Illinois in Champaign, Ill., on March 24.

The top-36 teams in the final Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) standings will advance to the NCAA Regional round on April 7. Along with Penn State, Alabama, Minnesota, North Carolina State, Ohio State and Utah are also NCAA Regional hosts.

The top-two teams from each NCAA Regional site will advance to the NCAA Championships, which are slated for April 20-21 at Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis.

All dates and times are subject to change. Visit GoPSUsports.com for the most up-to-date schedule.